Ravi Kumar

UNIQUE LEADERSHIP STYLE

UpCurve Business Services Pvt. Ltd.’s first product udChalo has become the new and affordable way of traveling for our armed forces. This booking portal venture is a way to give back to the brave men of the armed forces and their families for their unwavering spirit of sacrifice and dedication to the nation.

As children of the Defence Personnel, both Ravi and Varun were aware of the insider perspective of the problems which gave them a more focused approach following which they co-founded udChalo.

A BORN ENTREPRENEUR

After graduating from the Army Institute of Technology, Ravi has worked with several reputable organisations including Dassault Systemes. He always had an entrepreneurial streak in him, proof of which are the many accolades that he won on various platforms like Eureka 2014, Concipio 2014, B Plan 2014 and Magnate 2014. What’s more, Ravi is already counted among the 40 most influential Asians below 40!

Ravi’s Pune based venture ‘udChalo’ serves the Defence Personnel and their dependents by enabling them to travel by air on discounted tickets. The idea is to convert waitlisted rail passengers into air passengers by allotting unutilized airline seats at a discounted price; this serves as a win-win situation for the airline partners with their unutilized capacity as well as passengers who can fly instead of travelling by train. Ravi Kumar and Varun Jain’s initiative to give back to the armed forces by facilitating ease of travelling has given them an edge in ironing out the creases in their path.

The booking service is available only for defence staff, ex-servicemen and their dependents along with Services Selection Board (SSB) candidates. The exclusivity of services has ensured that there is a wellverified niche customer base so that the benefits of this arrangement are utilized only by those for whom it is intended for; this is a point that airline partners are really anxious to ensure.

DEMONSTRATING OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY

Real-time booking engine udChalo offers both online and offline services and is now flying 5000 people to 66 cities every day. On the basis of current seat filling patterns and previous data, the airlines change allotted seats to udChalo within the allotted reservations/booking designator. udChalo charges a small fee over and above the airline prices; hence, it is very cost-effective. Under Ravi Kumar’s leadership, udChalo’s business model is making a revenue growth of 50% monthover- month. udChalo’s has online as well as offline counters at various locations which are managed by ex-servicemen, Veer Naris, the war-disabled and their dependents.

His understanding of army life has helped him expand his business interests into PostingChalo as well. The purpose of PostingChalo is to provide an easily accessible door-to door-solution to soldiers for the transportation of household goods and conveyance while proceeding to their posting location.

Ravi’s inspired dream of helping others has just taken flight. His consistent efforts to serve the defence personnel and their families in their best interests will surely result in more successful ventures in the times to come.

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